Her Birthday
by EshtarWind
Summary: A mission. A team. A birthday. [A fic to celebrate Tenten’s belated birthday. Author mumbled apology for lateness. T for violence.]


**Author's Note: I know it's days after Tenten's birthday but I still want to upload something… Happy, Happy Birthday, Tenten! –Blowing trumpet-**

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**Her Birthday**

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_**Today has finally come  
The day of the final match  
Just once time, once a year it's  
Happy Birthday!!**_

_**-Koda Kumi: Birthday Eve-**_

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**_9th of March…_**

"_Over there! The intruder!!! ARREST THEM!!"_

That day was supposed to be her birthday… A birthday with candles and cakes, laughter and talks… But that day she was out with her team, an A-class mission of retrieving a scroll… and they were spotted by the enemy. Now their life was nothing than a single thread blown by the wind.

"_To the right!" Neji jumped ahead of them. "Tenten, hold them!"_

"_Kusari-fundo!"_

_Smack! Smack! Three down. The kusari fundo won't kill unless if she really wants it to. And no, she is not Orochimaru. She won't kill her enemy when she can avoid it._

"_They're heading to the gate! Ambush them!"_

_Although they knew there will be ambush waiting ahead of them, they still ran right to it. They have no other choice… and there was no other way._

That day was supposed to be her birthday… Where she can laugh together with her beloved friends… where she can peacefully enjoy a break in her cozy little home, looking at the bundle of birthday present… Not risking her life for a mere scroll in Neji's hand.

"_Hakkeshou… KAITEN!!"_

_Fwwwoooossshhh!!! CHING! His chakra protected him and his team from the weapons that showered them. When he stopped, Lee quickly jumped over him while shouting, "Konoha Gouriki Senpuu!"_

"_Let's go!" Neji jumped over the gate while Lee encountered the guardsmen, holding them back. Tenten jumped behind Neji, unleashing her big scroll. Six nins were jumping right to them._

"_Sougu: Shuriken no Mai!"_

That day was supposed to be her birthday. A birthday with presents and dumplings. Yes, people will surely give her some dumplings for her birthday present… But no, what she got that day weren't dumplings. It was her victim's blood.

_Her white Chinese shirt was now painted red with fresh blood. She didn't have time to worry about it though, as a katana was on its way to her neck._

"_Jyuuken!"_

_Smack! The nin suddenly coughed and fell to the forest floor. Neji's Byakugan briefly looked into her brown orbs before they were reverted back to the woods._

"_Let's go."_

"_LIKE WE WILL LET YOU!!!"_

_BOOM!! A zanbatou smashed the ground. Neji was on top of its blunt side with a kodachi unsheathed in his hand._

"_DAMMIT!"_

_CRAAAAASSSHHH!!_

That day was supposed to be her birthday. A birthday with wishes and congrats… not curses and screams…

"_Konoha Reppu!"_

_Lee's kick sent a few of them flying. He jumped to Tenten's side and said, "Hurry! They're too many! We have to… BEHIND!"_

_CRASSSSHHH!! Her katana cut the nin's head off. Fresh red liquid spurred out of his neck. She didn't have time to notice the blood littering her shirt as a nin was ready to pierce Lee's heart…_

"_NO!"_

That day… was supposed to be her birthday. A birthday with candles and cakes… laughter and wishes… Not the day when her friends face death right in front of their eyes.

"_JYUUKEN!"_

_SMACK! Neji panted as the nin fell to the floor. He threw the scroll to Tenten and said, "You go ahead! We will cover you!"_

_She knew there was no other way except leaving her boys behind. The scroll was on her hand… and their triumph was on her shoulder. So she jumped, leaving Neji and Lee behind her… ignoring the sound of death right by her ears._

That day was supposed to be her birthday… The day when she can laugh together with Lee… or talk about weapon with Neji… When she can run around Konoha together with Gai or eat together with her team by the Chinese Restaurant downtown. It wasn't supposed to be the day for her to leave them behind with their enemies, facing their fate as it sways between the line of life and death.

_Her breath was heavily. Blood trickled down her pale cheeks as the last nin by the border was killed with her katana. She clutched the scroll in her hands tightly. She was now on the border of Fire Country. She was safe… She succeeded… She was still alive… But… what about Neji and Lee?_

That day was supposed to be her birthday… A day together with her teammate, facing the sunshine… But that day… she was alone in the woods with only the scroll in her hands and none of her teammates beside her…

_It was a cold five minutes… filled with blood and sweat and worry. She knew she had to run straight to Konoha but her feet refused to move… No. It was her heart that refused to move. Her heart refused to leave her best friends behind…_

"_You are still as concern as always."_

_Neji's cynical voice was never that relieving as that day. He suddenly stood right beside her with Lee. They were soaked with blood but unscathed. The sight completely erased the anxiety in her heart. Her teammates were fine and that's all that she needed. Hearing Neji's earlier statement, Tenten furrowed her eyebrow and said, "You two took a long time! It's obvious if I'm so frickin' worried!"_

_She eventually hugged the two of them. Neji only snorted but blushed and Lee laughed. The latter hugged Tenten back and he grinned._

"_Hey…" He said affectionately while looking at the brown orbs of his only female teammate. "It's no way we will leave you alone on your birthday, right?"_

And that day was indeed her birthday. Her birthday that was filled with blood… screams… curses… and death… It wasn't the atmosphere fitted for a birthday, but inside all the bloodshed she found friendship, loyalty, trust, and love. Her birthday was not a birthday with cakes and candles… with wishes and jokes… Her birthday maybe wasn't a birthday where she blows a candle or sings a birthday song… Her birthday was here, in the battlefield with her boys… Her two most precious boys. And for her, there was no greater present than that.

**The End.  
**


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